This invention relates to a hypodermic needle shield.
Hypodermic needles are used in many fields and by medical, nursing, dental, veterinary and other personnel. Generally it is necessary after the use of a hypodermic needle to ensure that it is properly sheathed within a cylindrical container so that it is not exposed.
The need to resheath hypodermic needles in the protective guard or sheath currently available is well recognized. Principally the basis of this need is firstly to ensure that the needle is maintained in a clean or sterile condition when intermittent use is required and secondly to provide protection from accidental wounding or pricking of the operator and others nearby as may occur whenever a needle is left exposed outside moments of intended and actual use. Most unfortunately, the act of replacing a hypodermic needle in its guard or sheath is an occasion of particular risk for the operator since the sheath provides a small target at its open end and, if missed, stab wounding of the fingers is likely. This constitutes an extremely serious event in all instances where the needle tip is contaminated. Operator awareness of this personal risk moreover often means that the needles may be purposely left unsheathed.
In view of recent increased risks of contracting serious diseases by pricking with contaminated needles, hospitals often implement complex procedures to be undertaken whenever an inadvertent pricking or wounding of this type takes place. Even beyond hazards to the operator, therefore, there arises the serious loss of time which occurs in following the procedure whenever such an event takes place.
Conventionally a needle, its base for attachment to the required medical equipment, and a sheath surrounding the needle which connects to the base is supplied as a single packaged item for single time usage and then disposal as a throw away item. In all cases, however, it is necessary for the needle when used to be re-sheathed so that it cannot inadvertently protrude and cause pricking of an unsuspecting person.
Attempts have been made to design a shield device which can be used to protect the fingers of the operator when resheathing a needle.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,596,562 (Yernon), 4,737,149 (Gillilan) and 4,717,386 (Simmons) disclose arrangements in which a flat plate member includes an opening into which the sheath can initially be placed following which the needle is reinserted into the sheath while the hands of the operator are protected behind the flat plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,034 (Masters) discloses a modified shield in which there is provided a mouth of increased diameter with a conical portion leading into the shield so that the needle is better guided into the shield in the event of a slight inaccuracy by the operator.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,910 (Staebler) provides a needle sheath holder which includes a cylindrical hollow body into which the conventional sheath is inserted with suitable grip mechanisms being provided at the mouth of the cylindrical body. Surrounding the mouth is a flat plate type shield which is attached to the cylindrical body.
None of these devices has apparently achieved commercial success since in the field the problem remains unresolved. The reasons for the non-acceptance of the above proposals is not entirely clear but possibly this relates to the necessity of the additional devices of Yernon, Simmons, Gillilan and Staebler to modify the conventional handling techniques of the packaged and supplied disposable needle, needle sheath and needle base. These devices are not intended to be disposable or throw away items and thus must be removed from the sheath in a separate process thus reducing the efficiency of handling. The Masters device provides only limited protection since it merely increases the size of the mouth leaving the fingers still partly exposed to the danger of pricking and thus cannot be considered to be a satisfactory solution.